1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of and a system for generating a printing identification code representing identification information about a product which is printed on the product.
2. Description of Related Art
Typically, cases or packages for products accompany product identification (ID) codes such as QR codes in order to identify a product type, a production processes, a production history and the like of each specific product in the case or package. One of such QR codes is shown in FIG. 12 as an example printed on a cartridge case of a LTO type of one reel magnetic tape cartridge used as a magnetic recording medium. This QR code, which is designed to represent two dimensional product information, is scanned and subjected to image processing to provide, for example, a 16-digit alphanumeric code such as shown in FIG. 13. Specifically, the alphanumeric code consists of first four alphabetic characters representing manufacturing information, a 6-digit number representing a date (year/month/day) of manufacture or packing, a single digit number representing a printer number by which the QR code has been printed on the cartridge case and a 5-digit number representing a serial number of the magnetic tape cartridge. The translated alphanumeric code has a number of digits sufficiently enough to identify the product (magnetic tape cartridge) when used in combination with the identification information stored in an in-cartridge memory accompanying the cartridge case of the magnetic tape cartridge (which is hereinafter referred to as in-memory identification information).
In the meanwhile, in the VO manufacturing system for manufacturing magnetic tape cartridges of an LTOG1 series, an LTOG2 series, an LTOG3 series, a 3590/3592 series, a 9840/9940 series, etc. it is not unable to dispense with a QR code printed on cartridge cases by writing identification information of magnetic tape cartridges into in-cartridge memories accompanying the magnetic tape cartridges, respectively. However, because such in-memory identification information writable in the in-cartridge memory is generally confined to 8-digit alphanumeric codes, the in-memory identification code is not always enough in digit number to add information about each specific magnetic tape cartridge and, inconsequence, is hardly capable of ensuring the reliability of identification. Therefore, some types of products are hardly identifiable by in-memory identification information due to deficient digit numbers of identification codes.